Center for Study of Science, Technology and Policy (CSTEP)

CSTEP (Center for Study of Science, Technology and Policy) is a Bengaluru (India) based technology-policy think tank. Its research sectors include Climate, Environment and Sustainability; Energy & Power; Artificial Intelligence & Digital Lab; Materials & Strategic Studies; and Computational Tools. CSTEP is also recognised as a Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (SIRO) by the Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India. Dr Jai Asundi is the Executive Director of CSTEP.[1]

Vision & Mission

Vision: To be the foremost institute for policy analysis in India.

Mission: To enrich policymaking with innovative approaches using science and technology for a sustainable, secure, and inclusive society.

History

CSTEP was founded in 2005 by its current Chairman, Dr Vallampadugai Srinivasa Raghavan Arunachalam, former Scientific Advisor to India's Defence Minister (1982-1992) and former head of DRDO, along with noted Indian scientist Professor P Rama Rao. Dr Anshu Bharadwaj, former IAS officer from the Karnataka cadre (1992) was the first Executive Director from 2009-2020. Dr Jai Asundi is the current Executive Director of CSTEP (2020 onwards).[2] In 2008, CSTEP received its first grant from Shri Sivasubramaniya Nadar Educational and Charitable Trust to conduct studies in energy.[3][4] In 2018, CSTEP set up the Centre for Air Pollution Studies (CAPS)[5] and launched the Artificial Intelligence & Digital Labs.[6] The think tank has consolidated its work into 5 'sectors', comprising a total of 14 specific 'groups'.[7]

Research Sectors & Groups

Research at CSTEP is consolidated along the following verticals or sectors:

Climate, Environment & Sustainability:

The vision of this sector is to inform long-term developmental and policy decisions using in-depth analysis of technology options and identify pragmatic solutions for India's climate crisis, in line with global scientific research and synced to the national context. Research in this sector is divided into five groups: Technology & Financing, Adaptation & Risk Analysis, Pathways and Forecasting, Centre for Air Pollution Studies, and Environment and Ecosystem.

Energy & Power:

This sector envisions to shape renewable energy and energy-efficiency policies in India using technology options to inform policy and solve energy issues. Transmission & Grid Planning, Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency, and Regulatory Policy are the groups within the sector.

AI & Digital Lab:

Generating significant social impact through comprehensive solutions involving inclusive design, managed deployment, and policy innovation is the vision of this sector. The AI and Digital Lab’s work is consolidated into three groups: Health & Nutrition, Defence, and Urban Governance.

Materials & Strategic Studies:

The vision of this sector is to provide timely and relevant inputs on materials, storage, and other issues of national and strategic importance, with a focus on science and technology options. The research focuses on Strategic Materials and Energy Storage in this sector.[3]

Computational Tools:

Via this cross-cutting discipline, CSTEP develops computational and modelling tools with a vision to facilitate effective and efficient policy analysis.

Board of Directors

CSTEP's Board of Directors include:

  • Dr V S Arunachalam, Former Scientific Advisor to India’s Defence Minister, Chairman and Founder - CSTEP
  • Mr Suresh Prabhu, Sherpa to PM on G7 and G20, Member - Rajya Sabha
  • Mr Prafull Anubhai, Founder-Chairman, Board of Management, Ahmedabad University
  • Prof. S Ranganathan, Retired Professor, Indian Institute of Science
  • Prof. Dipankar Banerjee, Former Chief Controller of R&D, DRDO
  • Dr Ajay Mathur, Director General, TERI
  • Mr Rajat Gupta, Senior Partner, McKinsey & Co.
  • Ms Soumya Rajan, Founder-CEO, Waterfield Advisors
  • Dr Jai Asundi, Executive Director - CSTEP (Ex-officio)

Staff

CSTEP employs about 120 people spanning fields such as science & engineering, policy, economics, IT, management, and communication. Approximately 35% are engineers, 21.6% are from IT, 18.6% from science, 7.8% from management, 9.8% from communications, and 6.9% from social science and public policy fields of study.

Location

CSTEP was set up in Dr VS Arunachalam's residence in Bengaluru and later worked out of the DRDO office on Infantry Road, Bengaluru. CSTEP currently works out of two locations in Bengaluru and one in Noida. Its work spans various states across India, including Karnataka, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Manipur, and Lakshwadeep.

Activities

India Clean Air Summit

The India Clean Air Summit (ICAS) is CSTEP's flagship event on Air Pollution, organised by the Centre for Air Pollution Studies (CAPS). ICAS brings together scientists, researchers, policymakers, technologists, and communicators – to discuss the latest research and evidence for air pollution to inform policy decisions and actions.

Role of Science & Technology for Society

In March 2020, CSTEP initiated a Discussion Series on the Role of Science & Technology for Society. The series aims to make science accessible to citizens to find sustainable solutions for India's developmental challenges. The first event of the series was woven around the launch of Dr Arunachalam's book ‘From Temples to Turbines: An Adventure in Two Worlds’.[8] The Chief Designer of LCA Tejas, Kota Harinarayana, and former Chief Secretary to the Government of Karnataka SV Ranganath were the main speakers at the event.[9]

India Energy Transformation Platform

CSTEP is the Secretariat for the India Energy Transformation Platform, which was set up in 2018 to strategise on India's long-term energy future. The Platform investigated four research areas in the first year: technologies for renewable energy, decentralised renewable energy systems, urban space cooling, and energy-efficient industrial processes.[10]

Credentials

CSTEP is ranked 56 amongst global science and technology policy think tanks.[11] CSTEP was one of forty-three think tanks in the developing world (one of the seven from India) chosen to receive support from Think Tank Initiative, an initiative aimed at strengthening think tanks in developing countries.[12] It was listed as a 'go-to' institution for multi-national organisations seeking 'targeted technical research partnerships'. David Malone, then President of International Development Research Centre, wrote in 2010: "Center for Study of Science, Technology and Policy (CSTEP) under VS Arunachalam has produced remarkable work on energy technology and energy security policies".[13]

The Government of Karnataka chose CSTEP as a Technology Research Institute in 2015. The Department of Science and Technology, Ministry of Science and Technology, identified CSTEP as a Science and Technology Think Tank.

Dr Samar Varma, Former Programme Manager, IDRC said, "Two key values I have witnessed at CSTEP are integrity and humility, because of which they have managed to build very good long-term relationships."[1]

According to Leonardo Lacerda, Director-Environment, Oak Foundation, "CSTEP has been, by far, one of our best investments in India. CSTEP marries very well the policy needs with the capacity to provide top-level advice."[1]

Funding

CSTEP receives grants from national and international foundations, industry trusts, and governments. Grants and donations made to CSTEP are eligible for exemptions u/s 80 (G) of India's Income Tax Act, 1961. The organisation is registered under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010.[1] CSTEP has received grants from International Development Research Centre (IDRC), OAK Foundation, Rohini & Nandan Nilekani Philanthropies, WIPRO, European Climate Foundation, The World Bank, United Nations Development Programme, United Nations Democracy Fund, The Global Green Growth Institute, Climate Parliament, Children's Investment Fund Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Hewlett Foundation, and others.

Policy Influence

· Assisted India's Planning Commission by developing a 'systems map' to provide a more rigorous grounding to the three scenarios presented in India's 12th Five Year Plan

· Associated with the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy's National Wind Energy Mission[14]

· A Knowledge Partner in the development of India Energy Security Scenarios 2047 [13] launched by India's Planning Commission in 2014.[15]

· Worked on methodologies for target setting and implementation[16] of the Perform, Achieve, and Trade scheme of Bureau for Energy Efficiency under the National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency.

· Outlined Karnataka's roadmap for power in 2021-22 on behalf of the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission.[17]

· Involved in an IBM project to create a cost-benefit analysis of setting up smart grids in India.[18]

· Developed a decision-support tool to help urban local bodies and governments provide cost-effective and sustainable sanitation options for all, especially the urban poor. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation funded the project.[19]

· CSTEP developed a Clean Air Action Plan for Patna[20] to be implemented by the Bihar State Pollution Control Board.

· For BESCOM, CSTEP conducted an extensive assessment of Bengaluru city's rooftops to determine the city's total solar potential. Based on the study, CSTEP developed a roadmap for Bengaluru city to achieve a 1 GW rooftop solar target.[21] The research team also developed CSTEP's Rooftop Solar Evaluation Tool (CREST) to help consumers determine the solar potential of the rooftop.[22]

· The Department of Women & Child Development, Government of Karnataka, and CSTEP are trying to reduce malnutrition and stunting in the state with SNEHA, a solutions platform developed by the AI and Digital Lab team. The platform streamlines health management for women and children using digital technologies.[23] It is currently being piloted in 67,000 Anganwadis.

Collaborative Projects
  • CSTEP was one of the Indian organisations which participated in SERIIUS: Solar Energy Research Institute for India and the United States. SERIIUS is a Joint Clean Energy Development and Research Center established by the Government of India and the US Department of Energy.[24]
  • CSTEP headed a consortium of Indian and international organisations collaborating to design and develop a 'demonstration' Solar-Thermal and Biomass hybrid power plant to meet energy requirements sustainably. This 5-year project (2013 – 2018) titled SCOPE BIG (Scalable CSP Optimized Power Plant Engineered with Biomass Integrated Gasification) was a part of the EU-India Cooperation on Renewable Energy.[25]
  • CSTEP was a member of a consortium, FOWIND led by Global Wind Energy Council to undertake studies for facilitating off-shore wind energy in India. CSTEP's role: a pre-feasibility study of the potential for off-shore wind farms.[26]
  • CSTEP is a partner in the GHG Platform India – a civil-society collaboration to understand India's GHG Emissions. CSTEP was responsible for the energy sector research under this collaboration.[27]
  • CSTEP collaborated with The Nature Conservancy (TNC) for providing technical support for 'Site Right'. This tool assesses technical aspects and parameters to suitably site RE projects based on local resource assessment, land characteristics, and transmission infrastructure.
  • CSTEP is part of the EU-India joint modelling initiative for preparing low-carbon scenarios for India up to 2050.

References
  1. "CSTEP". cstep.in. Retrieved 2020-08-24.
  2. "Jai Asundi". cstep.in. Retrieved 2020-08-24.
  3. "CSTEP Turns 10 - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2020-08-24.
  4. "SSN signs tie-up for scientific research". Livemint. 2007-07-11. Retrieved 2020-09-03.
  5. "CAPS". caps.cstep.in. Retrieved 2020-08-24.
  6. "AI and Digital Lab". cstep.in. Retrieved 2020-08-24.
  7. "Annual Report 2019-20". cstep.in. Retrieved 2020-08-24.
  8. "From Temples to Turbines: An Adventure in Two Worlds". cstep.in. Retrieved 2020-08-24.
  9. "From Temples to Turbines: An Adventure in Two Worlds". cstep.in. Retrieved 2020-09-11.
  10. "India Energy Transformation Platform". India Energy Transformation Platform. Retrieved 2020-08-24.
  11. McGann, James (2020-06-18). "2019 Global Go To Think Tank Index Report". TTCSP Global Go To Think Tank Index Reports.
  12. Strengthening Policy Research: Role of Think Tanks in South Asia. SAGE Publications. 2018. ISBN 9789353282165.
  13. Malone, David M. (2010-10-27). "‘Outstanding research can shape better policy'". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2020-08-24.
  14. Choudhury, Biswajit. (January 23, 2014). "MNRE starts process for a National Wind Energy Mission". TwoCircles.net.
  15. "India Energy Security Scenarios". web.archive.org. 2015-02-22. Retrieved 2020-08-24.
  16. "Phase I of Perform, Achieve & Trade to start from April 2011". The Hindu. Special Correspondent. 2010-07-06. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2020-08-24.CS1 maint: others (link)
  17. "Future shock: Bengaluru can soon expect 12 to 24-hr power cuts | Decc…". archive.vn. 2015-04-25. Retrieved 2020-08-24.
  18. "IBM to study cost benefits for Indian smart grids - CXOtoday.com". web.archive.org. 2015-12-04. Retrieved 2020-08-24.
  19. "OPP1087912". www.gatesfoundation.org. 2001-01-01. Retrieved 2020-08-24.
  20. "CSTEP Project". cstep.in. Retrieved 2020-08-24.
  21. "Implementation of RTPV on Govt. Buildings in BESCOM Area". cstep.in. Retrieved 2020-08-24.
  22. "LiDAR-based RTPV Tool for Bengaluru". cstep.in. Retrieved 2020-08-24.
  23. "Health and Nutrition". cstep.in. Retrieved 2020-08-24.
  24. "Solar Energy Research Institute for India and the United States (SERIIUS)". web.archive.org. 2013-12-14. Retrieved 2020-08-24.
  25. "EU-India Update". web.archive.org. 2015-01-31. Retrieved 2020-08-24.
  26. Srikanth, R.; Kandavel, Sangeetha (2015-01-29). "Tapping the offshore wind". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2020-08-24.
  27. "Recommendations to the Government on India's Official GHG Emission Estimation Process". cstep.in. Retrieved 2020-08-24.
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